Shutting Down Misaki

When I got back into the game last month, my fiance (now wife) picked up the Misaki box and a couple of snipers. Now that we have some free-time, I've been able to test some of my theory crafting against this killy crew. Most people, when they see a problem like this, they look at the rest of the faction and say, "What can my faction bring to solve this problem?" Prone, as I am, to the Mimic sub-faction, my answers must be found there. Mimics are a control crew that requires a lot of finesse, so while it would be nice to be as killy as my opponent, let's consider what is available.

Lucius and the Scribe shut down models fairly well with their Red Tape trigger; throw in some Mr. Tannen with his Yawn trigger and Cooler ability, and we'll have Misaki and Ototo unable to effect very much at all. Both Guild Lawyers, with their Impassioned Defense, Fees and Ojection!!!, cannot be overlooked, if anything their redundancy insures that the models we want stopped, will be stopped. Once things are suitably shut down, Mr. Graves and his Changeling accomplices are sent in to mop up. The issue is in the implementation, what do you activate first? We want Yawn on Misaki, so Mr. Tannen should activate toward the beginning of the turn, and stay within the Df +1 aura of the Scribe. If Bore To Tears goes off, Misaki will be far less threatening, though Mr. Tannen may still be in peril. This can be enhanced by the Doppleganger allowing you to cheat initiative, and Candy's ability to influence activation priority. A Misaki with Nobody Likes Me, is a Misaki that is much easier to deal with, and, baring that, if another of her crew (or two) is under the effect of Mood Swing, that will us enough time to manipulate the board to our liking. Or the classic: Mood Swing 1st activation within 3" of Candy to apply Sweets and Paralyze the activating model.

"So I tried to save face and I rest my caseThe judge pulls me aside said c'est la vieLet your darker side come out to feed"

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The thing with Misaki is that she's a bit of a Glass cannon - if you manage to draw a bead on her with something decent then she'll go down fast. Especially if she's already burnt her soulstones on killing other things.

Also, as far as melee Masters go she varies from merely average to completely bonkers. Without Stalk on a target she's likely only doing 2 damage per swing, but if she's stripped you of your cards she becomes very good at slaughtering everyone within reach. Also of note - your average Misaki player is probably going to want to activate last, when you're lowest on cards. So if you can put the pressure on her early she'll either be forced to activate while you've still got cards to discard, or your opponent risks losing Misaki early.

As far as specifically anti-misaki tech goes, you've got three options;- Make sure you can counter Misaki's initial charge with something that can deal alot of damage in response. Those 12 wounds won't last long against a decent melee beater. - Have some condition removal handy to strip the stalk condition. Misaki might be able to apply it herself with a (0), but if she does she misses out on using that (0) for an attack. - Hold onto your cards whenever you can to avoid that damn Assassination trigger. Or better yet, have some tools available that actually let you draw cards.

One final thing - the Assassination trigger only goes off if Misaki deals damage with her attack. Given her minimum damage is 2, a soulstone user with armour can seriously blunt Misaki's killing power, making them the ideal models to take her on.